Online Poker Texas Hold 'em » Values of poker hands
The cards used in poker have two qualities: Suit (spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds) and Rank (two through Ace). With this in mind, here is how you create poker hands:
- Royal flush - All cards of same suit. Ranks from ten through Ace.
- Straight Flush - All cards of same suit. Rank in sequence.
- Four of a Kind - Four cards with the same rank.
- Full House - Three cards of one rank, and two cards of a second rank.
- Flush - All cards of same suit.
- Straight - All card with ranks in sequence. (ex. 4-5-6-7-8)
- Three of a Kind - Three cards with the same rank.
- Two Pair - A pair is two cards of the same rank. Two pair is two sets of cards of the same rank. (ex. 8-8-3-3-9)
- One Pair - A pair is two cards of the same rank.
- High Card - When no other poker hand can be formed, the highest ranking card in your hand is the "high card"
Tie Breakers
Hands can end in a tie, and result in a split-pot. But, there are tie breaking rules to consider first. They are:
- Pairs - When two players both have a pair, the highest pair wins. When both players have the same pair, the next highest card wins. This card is referred to as the 'kicker'. For instance, 3-3-J-9-8 beats 3-3-9-8-7. If the pairs and the kickers are the same, the decision goes to the next highest card in the hand. 9-9-K-7-2 beats 9-9-K-5-3. This process continues until both hands are exactly the same or there is a winner.
- Two Pair - the higher of the top pairs wins. A-A-9-9-2 beats K-K-J-J-10. If the top pair are equal, the second pair breaks the tie. If both the top pair and the second pair are equal, the kicker breaks the tie.
- Three-of-a-Kind - the higher ranking card wins. J-J-J-9-8 beats 5-5-5-9-8.
- Straights - the straight with the highest ranking card wins. A-K-Q-J-10 beats 9-8-7-6-5. If the straights both contain cards of the same rank, the pot is split.
- Flush - the flush with the highest ranking card wins. A-9-8-7-5 beats K-Q-J-5-4. If the highest cards in each flush are the same, the next highest cards are compared.
This process continues until either the hands are shown to be exactly the same, or there is a winner. - Full House - the hand with the higher ranking set of three cards wins. J-J-J-2-2 beats 9-9-9-A-A.
- Four of a Kind - the higher ranking set of four cards wins. 9-9-9-9-2 beats 8-8-8-8-A.
- Straight Flush - ties are broken in the same manner as a straight.
- Royal Flush - Two or more Royal Flushes split the pot.
Most versions of the game use this scheme, though there are a few exceptions. The most notable is lowball, where the lowest hand wins. Seven-card stud and Texas hold 'em - or just "hold 'em" - use the standard ranking.
The unpredictable process of determining a winner is what separates genuine poker versions from the downpour of quasi-poker games that have flooded the market in the pas few decades. Video Poker, Caribbean Stud Poker, Let It Ride, and all the othe recent inventions have an absoluet standard for winning and losing. You can read it on a pay table. Real poker has no such thing.. No hand is an automatic winner (besides a royal flush), and no hand is an automatic loser.
In fact, the object of poker is not necessarily to have the best hand. The object is to win the biggest pot which is the combined bets of all the players. Having the best hand may allow you to do that, but it may not. Keep in mind as we explain how the game works.
Obviously, the best hand wins in a showdown. That's when two or more people reveal their hands to see who will win the pot. If two players have identical hands (two flushes, two straights, two full houses), the rank of the cards in each hand will determine the winner. For example, a queen high straight flush would beat a seven high straight flush. Three kings beat three jacks. Two aces beat two queens. A jack high flush would beat a flush that has a high card of nine. If both players have identical combinations (both have four jacks, both have two aces), then the highest singleton (single unsuited card) determines the winner.
If neither hand has a combination, the hand with the highest singleton wins. The pot is split when all five cards match in rank. Suit is never used to determine a winner. In games (like seven-card stud) where the player creates a five-crad hand from a greater number of cards, the sixth and seventh card are not considered.
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